This invention relates to a self-dosing measuring chamber and container. More particularly this invention relates to a bottle which has a part thereof an upper cover portion which also serves as a measuring chamber to measure out the dosage of the substance to be used from the container.
In the use of many liquid products it is necessary to measure out a particular amount for use at any one time. This can be done through the use of a measuring cup or some similar device. However, this then requires a container for the substance, and in addition a separate measuring device. It is more convenient if the measuring device can be an integral part of the container which contains the product to be measured. Most products are packaged in this way since it is then not required that the user of the product maintain a separate device for measuring the quantity of the product to be used. This decreases the possibility of spillage and further results in less wastage which results from some of the product always being left in the measuring device. The solution to this problem has been to use self-dosing liquid measuring and pour devices. By self-dosing it is meant that the container has as an integral part thereof a means to measure the quantity of the product that is to be used. That is, the container will have as an integral apart a means to determine the dose of the product that is to be used.
The present invention is directed to a self-dosing container having a measuring chamber in its upper cover. This self-dosing container is simple in construction and quite easy to use. The container and the base part of the measuring chamber can be one integral part. This would consist of a container with a molded top portion. This top portion also contains a spout for delivering the product contained in the container into a measuring chamber. It is also a particular embodiment that the base part of the measuring chamber be a separate piece from the container. In such an arrangement the measuring chamber would contain the full dosing mechanism. The measuring chamber would be attached to the container via screw threads or by some clamping mechanism. Regardless of the exact structure of the container and the cap there is provided an apparatus that is simple in construction and easy to use.
The prior art contains many different types of self-dosing devices for containers such as bottles. These consist of various general types of devices. Various known self-dosing devices include pump devices, a squeeze bottle with a metering well, a squeeze bottle with ball follower, air valve metering, metering well in a bottle, siphoning techniques, a measuring cavity built into the cap, a gravity timed ball check, a measuring cavity built into a bottle handle, an internal metering with a ball valve and measuring caps. These all operate on different principles. The present technique is based on a measuring chamber built into an upper part which is usually reserved for a cap. This new self-dosing device has been found to be simple in design, have a low cost, and rather easy to use.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,091,929 there is shown the use of a measuring cavity built into a cap as a dispenser. This dispenser consists of an upwardly extending spout from the base of the container cap. There is also an upwardly extending exit spout. In use, the bottle or other container which is attached to this dispenser is inverted in order to fill a part of the cap. The container or bottle is then placed upright whereby a particular amount of product in the container or bottle is measured out into the cap. Then upon tilting the bottle or container the measured dosage of product can be delivered from the container or bottle. However, a problem with this device is that when the container or bottle is tilted to deliver a dosage of product there is the possibility of leakage from the bottle.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,730,270 there is disclosed a squeeze bottle and liquid measuring and dispensing device attached to this bottle. This device consists of a cap portion which contains tubing which extends from above the cap down to near the bottom of the bottle or container. There is an outlet in the region of the top of the cap. In using this device, the bottle is squeezed which forces liquid up a tube and into the liquid measuring region. The bottle can then be inverted in order to dispense the measured amount of liquid.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,254,809 there is disclosed a dispensing device for tilting containers. This dispensing device consists of a container with a cap which has a self-dosing mechanism. In this cap, there are two conduits which communicate between the bottle and the cap. One of these conduits is for delivery of the material which is to be dispensed from the container while the other conduit is set so as to determine the amount of the dosage. In usage, the bottle is tilted rearwardly so that some of the product will flow from the bottle into the dispensing cap. After the dosage amount has been delivered from the bottle to the cap, the bottle is brought into an upright position, the cover removed or opened and the bottle tilted forwardly in order to deliver the measured amount of product from the bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,859 discloses a technique and device for measuring the dosage of fluids. In essence, the device consists of a measuring chamber built into a cap. There is disclosed in this patent a bottle which has attached to the exit opening a cap which is in essence a second bottle. Extending upwardly into this dispensing cap is a spout which interconnects into the bottle which contains the product. This upper bottle contains a closure. In order to dispense a given amount of liquid, the bottle is tilted forwardly until the desired amount of liquid from the bottle flows upwardly into the cap measuring portion. When the given amount has been flowed into the cap measuring portion, the bottle is then brought into an upright position. The closure on the measuring cap is then removed and the bottle tilted forwardly again. In this second forward tilting since the cap has been removed from the dispensing cap, the dosage of product can then be delivered to the point where needed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,948 discloses a measuring container with a modified pour spout. This pour spout can be an integral part of the container or it can be part of the cap for the container. In one particular embodiment, there is shown an upwardly extending channel into an upper dose measuring region. The dose measuring region has a cap closure. In usage, the container is inverted until the desired amount of liquid has passed from the bottle up into the measuring cap. After this has occurred, the cap closure is removed and the measured dosage is dispensed from the container. This is an interesting self-dosing technique, however, it has several drawbacks. A particular drawback is that with the exit cap in the top of the measuring chamber the bottle will have to be tilted to such an extent to dispense the measured amount of substance that more of the substance can be accidentally permitted to flow from the bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,065 discloses yet a further liquid measuring and pouring device. This is fairly complex liquid measuring and pouring device. It consists of a cap portion which can be placed on a bottle or the like and which has chambers which extend in opposite directions. The chamber that extends in a first direction is utilized to measure the amount of a substance that is desired to be removed from the bottle and to hold it until it is desired to dispense the substance. At that point, the cap on one end of the closure is removed and the measured substance is dispensed by tilting the bottle forwardly in the direction of the spout so that the dosage in the measuring chamber can be emptied. Besides being quite intricate, this dosage measuring device requires a considerable amount of space and will require a fairly high degree of structural integrity.